Does this service cost me anything? |
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Westchester County is offering the Community Emergency Notification System free of charge to residents and employees in Westchester County. Depending on your cell phone carrier and your service plan with your carrier, you may incur a few cents charge for each text message received. Westchester County does not assume any responsibilities for text-message charges incurred by you by your cell phone carrier. |
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How does the Community Emergency Notification System work? |
In a major emergency, and only in a major emergency, alert messages will be sent by authorized Westchester County employees. You should read these messages quickly and follow the instructions they contain.
Westchester has the ability to send e-mail and cell phone text messages throughout the emergency to keep you informed. Even if cell phone calls are busy, cell phone text messages should continue to reach you.
If you do receive an alert message, please follow the instructions on that message. PLEASE DO NOT CALL 911 or Westchester County’s Department of Emergency Services as they are already aware of the emergency -- and your call will tie up precious resources and available phone lines.
We update the County's website www.westchestergov.com as often as possible with additional information about the emergency. In addition, you should tune to local television and radio stations. (Remember to keep a battery-operated radio on hand.) |
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Will my cell phone work in a major emergency? |
Alerts are delivered using the text messaging (Short Message Service (SMS) network) feature of your cell phone. The alerts come across like a page on a pager. All cell phone carriers, and paging companies, offer text messaging. Nearly all phones purchased within the past few years are text messaging capable. If you are unsure, contact your carrier to ask about your phone and text messaging.
Users of SMS rarely if ever get a busy or engaged signal as they can do during peak network usage times. |
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What is text-messaging and how do I sign-up for it? |
Text messages are short messages delivered to your phone, similar to an e-mail or a page. Text messages can only contain between 100 and 160 characters (approximately 15 words) depending on the carrier. A text message would arrive in the same way a voice mail notification arrives.
Most cell phone providers activate text message service automatically, but you should check with you carrier to ensure that text messaging has been activated on your cell phone. |
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What If I Signed Up, But Didn’t Get a Text Message or Email? |
There are several possible reasons why:
1. Someone else picked up your phone.
2. You didn’t recognize the sender, so you deleted the message without reading it.
3. The email was blocked or caught as “Spam” by your computer’s filter.
4. You provided the wrong phone number or email address.
5. Your phone number and/or email address has changed since registration. |
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